Wednesday, 31 October 2007

It was David Hume who stated that we cannot derive an ‘Ought’ from an ‘Is’. This is a lesson the Left, Liberals and the rest of the Politically Correct Fascists like Steven Rose need to learn.

Just because the scientists like Steven Rose do not want science to discover genes for intelligence that differ amongst racial groups, the fact they appear to exist, and therefore that we ought to be undertaking scientific research to discover them, is more important to scientific progress, and truth, than his selfish desire that they ought not to exist and therefore ought not to be discovered.

If science was based on wishing away all unpalatable truths, then science would not exist and truth would be lies. The value of science is that it is valueless.

Its value is simply that it enables us to establish truth.

It is truth that is the value of science. If science rejects truth for dogma then we reject science itself and have entered a new Dark Ages of superstition and ignorance.

Science seeks only truth, it is not concerned with dogma or morality.

Truth exists because it is based on solely empirical evidence, it is free from superstition and delusion.

It is man who either uses, or abuses, the technology he derives from reason and science.

It is fools who reject science for dogma and illusions.

If the paradigm of scientific progress were handicapped by the selfish desires of scientists not to discover things because they don’t like them, then science would not exist and objective truth would not exist. Every scientist would regard their specific view on what ought to be as more important than what is. Truth would become hostage to the competitors in a competition of ‘oughts‘, instead of being built on the foundation of the single scientific ’Is’.

It is the ’Is’ that is the basis of all science, the ’ought’ is simply an ethical question. Science is the province of scientists, it is for philosophers to ponder oughts.

To confuse the two is the sign of a scientist who has confused science with philosophy and truth with desire.

Steven Rose and the anti-racist lobby assert that because genes for racial difference ought not to exist, according to their own personal wishes, then people like James Watson ought not to be allowed to conjecture, in the name of science, whether they do exist.

They also state that scientists should not be allowed to research racial differences and also that they should not receive funding if they want to. Those scientists that do undertake research into racial differences, discover them and publish them are vilified, accused of being racist and pressure put on their employers to sack them. This is the science of a totalitarian state.

Science based on political correctness is not science, it is self imposed scientific censorship.

Whilst liberals condemn censorship in the cinema, they demand it in the laboratory.

Whilst liberals support free speech in society, they condemn those scientists who dare do scientific research they do not agree with.

For Liberals ' Freedom ' is valued only for its utility as regards them and their dogma. If a freedom conflicts with their lies or dogma then the freedom must be destroyed - not the lie or the illusion.

On the issue of racial differences the Liberals have become the New Fundamentalists.

Along with the Islamist fundamentalists that assert the supremacy of Islam, the proponents of the Communist International, the Globalists of Capitalism, Christian fundamentalist Creationists and climate change proponents, each has confused faith with truth.

The Christians that assert Creationism instead of evolution, the proponents of Climate Change who assert the existence of man made warning based on slender scientific conjectures and not hard scientific facts and the Liberals that deny the existence of racial differences are all fundamentalists who seek to conflate truth with faith.

This is an absurd situation. The New Fundamentalists use the old Marxist-Leninist technique of the Terrorism of the Word to attack any heretics they disagree with. This is why those who question the 'science' of man made climate change are called 'Revisionists' thereby equating them with Holocaust Deniers.

If science ever discovers, whether by intent or accident, genes for intelligence that prove that a differential for intelligence exists based on inherited racial differences, then is Steven Rose saying such truth should not be revealed.

Is science casting truth into the flames of denial as once did religion ?

If science is not based solely on the search for truth then what is the value of science to Man ?

Have we not suffered enough under the yoke of faith and superstition.

Is not the value of truth that it frees us from the lies and illusions of those fools that would wish to be kept in chains and slaves to their lies.

Those who want to deny us truth are the true haters, for they hate liberty and truth itself.

To say that certain scientific truths are so unpalatable to some people that they ought to be suppressed or denied, is a debasement of science itself. It is to exist in illusion and error.

To restrict the right of scientists to undertake research, or debate potential scientific potentialities in public, on the basis that in nature their ’ought’ not be genes for intelligence that differ on the basis of race is to take the science out of science.

Truth is often unpalatable. So is science.

Often if conflicts with faith, dogma or an accepted scientific theory espoused by many learned fools.

The subjective desire for an specific ’Ought’ in science to exist is often conflicted by the reality of a specific ’Is’ that does exist.

For the pseudo-scientists to demand that truth be treated like a condemned prisoner, blindfolded, gagged, silenced and then sentenced to incineration in the fires of heresy is to transform our civilisation into tyranny.

The right of scientists to state what an ’is ’ is, is the basis of their fundamental right as a scientist.

For scientists to fear asserting what is, because they are afraid of being vilified for undermining an ought, is to replace the spirit of scientific inquiry with that of a fear of discovery and a new era of superstition. Science should exult when it discovers truth, not punish the truth seekers for discovering truth or speculating on a truth that challenges the existing scientific consenus or a prevailing liberal social dogma.

The aim of science is simply to discover truth to enable Man to take charge of his own development, not to create cells of lies for demagogues to keep us enchained within.

If scientists are to be judged by their peers not on the nature of new truths that they discover but on the basis of them not undermining an established ought, then lets not pretend that that is science.

The nature of Truth is that Truth is Nature.

Replacing truth based on nature with truth based on dogma is to replace science with faith.

To ask scientists to place an equivalence between an ‘ ought’ and an ‘is’ to take scientists, and science, out of the ream of fact and truth and into the realm of philosophy, ethics and morality. Science that seeks to place an equivalence between an ’ought’ and ’is’ is voodoo science. Waving a stick over a broken leg ought to fix it says the witchdoctor, but science says that it wont.

To the liberals that labour under the delusion of their asinine universal subjectivisms, such as moral and cultural relativism, science is also relativist. Iy must serve their will or it must be denied.

Fortunately antibiotics cure infections when incantations fail. That is the gift that science and truth has given us.

Healing is what happens when reality replaces delusion.

To relegate the status of an ’is’ to the status of an ’ought’ is to jeopardise the entire basis of the path of Western science and civilisation since the Enlightenment.

Though some like Steven Rose say Nature should not have created differentials in intelligence based on race, if it has the it has.

Conflating an ’ought’ with an ’is’ in order to try and hide this fact is to reject science itself.

Coming from a scientist one would expect more intellectual rigor and respect for science itself.

What is always amusing to me is reading the comments of those that attack me and my blog. Foremost amongst these are the middle class simpering Mirandas and Quentins that post on the Lancaster UAF website and also the ramblings of the 'Hag' sharon ebanks, Britains premier half black nazi and deranged fantasist, who spends almost as much time on the UAF site as she does down in the West Indian community centre near her home where she listens to Bob Marley and eats goat curry with her extended family.

I often feel pity for Ebanks, along with contempt, as she is a monster spawned by Multi-Culturalism itself - a mixed up monster with no real sense of being and no centre other than the self hate that drives her.

I also feel sorry for the deluded saps that fell for her crap - those petty little people who allowed themselves to be flattered into treachery and stupidity.

Apparently my bad language on this blog makes me unsuitable for politics - perhaps I should be like Alastair Campbell and write pornography and that will make me a true Labour type of politician.

The post below was written about me by a female ( I think, though with the ugly hairy bitches that infest the UAF one can never be sure what sex they are ) who obviously is projecting onto me her own 'shadow' as Jung wrote.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_(psychology)

Denise G obviously has some issues. The fact she spends time writing about me on her blog and attempting an analysis ( via psycho-babble cod psychology) is obviously due to her sublimating either her sexuality ( and her overwhelming sexual desire for me as she has seen pictures of my hauntingly handsome visage on the internet - Its ok Denise to lust after me - you cannot help it as you are female and biologically programmed to be sexually subservient to me ) or some attraction for Nationalism as an ideology.

It must be very difficult to be a liberal - having to hold beliefs you know are total bollocks at the same time as having to work in an environment where you are forced to kiss someones arse just because they are an ethnic and then having to watch as people less qualified than you get promotions and jobs you should get just because they are from an ethnic minority.

When they have to live like that it must be very hard for them to deal with - and therefore the sense of cowardice, their gutlessness, their hypocrisy and their self disgust manifests as hatred for those who tell them just what they are doing and how pathetic they are - which is of course us nationalists.

Like all sick people they confuse the person who makes the analysis of their problem AS THE PROBLEM.

Denise 'hates ' me for the following reasons ;

1) She is drawn like the moth to my flame and desires me but loathes herself for her sublimated desires. It must be difficult for her when her enemy is the one person she really wants to fuck. That is why she has this aggressive hatred for me. Just as the poet William Blake wrote in his poem London about how the 'hapless soldiers' sheathed sword leads to war and violence as he cannot have sex with the diseased harlot of the next stanza and directly linked sexual repression with violence - the violence of Denise is directed at me as her desire must never be revealed to herself. Therefore it has to be chanelled by the subconscious into the river bed of hate and vented at the target it Hates/Desires the most. Just as pornography is the shadow of art - hate is the shadow of sublimated desire.

I wandered through each chartered street,Near where the chartered Thames does flow,A mark in every face I meet,Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every man,In every infant's cry of fear,In every voice, in every ban,The mind-forged manacles I hear:

How the chimney-sweeper's cryEvery blackening church appals,And the hapless soldier's sighRuns in blood down palace-walls.

But most, through midnight streets I hearHow the youthful harlot's curseBlasts the new-born infant's tear,And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.

2) She hates nationalists as nationalists are 'real people' as opposed to 'plastic people' like herself , who are those who live fake lives and live in perpetual self disgust for their cowardice. This is best described by Octave Mirabeau ;

" You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. It is that permanent contradiction between your ideas and desires and all the dead formalities and vain pretenses of your civilization which makes you sad, troubled and unbalanced. In that intolerable conflict you lose all joy of life and all feeling of personality, because at every moment they suppress and restrain and check the free play of your powers. That's the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilized world."

That life is the curse of the Liberal - a lifetime of gutless surrender to lies.

As for the facts - here we go again;

1) I graduated from Kent University in 1999 with an Honours Degree in law. Only a 2/2 though, due to me missing almost all the lectures due to prolonged illness.

I was a member of the Kent Law Clinic when we won The Times award for law work in 1998. http://www.transworldeducation.com/ads/kentlaw.htm

"In 1998, the Clinic was the joint winner of the Times/Justice Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Civil Justice. Competition for the award included Queens Counsel, major solicitors firms and civil liberties organizations. The then Masters of the Rolls, Lord Woolf, was a member of the Awarding Committee. Employers are particularly impressed by the skills developed in clinical work and the ability of our students to obtain training contracts and pupillages has been considerably enhanced."

My old lecturer John Fitzpatrick ( now an OBE - what the hell !!!! an ex-Marxist revolutionary with an OBE from the British Empire whose flag he used to call 'The Butchers Apron ')who is one of the organisers of Marxism Today conferences at Kent University used to be my main tutor and Human Rights Law lecturer. Nice bloke though, regardless of his infantile politics. I blame the 1968 poseurs for poisoning his mind when he was at university in the 60's.

Now heres what Denise wrote - my comments in brackets next to the thesis ;

Lee Barnes is the proprietor of an overweening ego, his narcissism perfected to such an extraordinary degree that we wonder how it comes to be that he does not make himself pregnant. ( confusing Parthogenesis with psychology is silly. My ego and narcissism exist of course so asserting it is facile as regards factuality. The fact Denise attacks me for having an overweening ego is interesting as it suggests she has had some deep introspective moments reflecting on me. Lets hope she doesnt become one of those mad bunny boiling bitches I used to attract when younger and prettier. )

His ego and his narcissism being so extravagant, and the compulsive necessity to sate them occupying and otherwise exercising so many more brain cells than the normal, non-pathological human being feels inclined to alot to the task, his intelligence has been neglected in inverse proportion, to the point that it is barely detectable. ( Interesting theory , though complete psychological bullshit. Not only tautological but logically incoherent. Ego is unrelated to intelligence. If she is saying I am an supreme egotist/narcissist/ fantasist/ to the extent that my intelligence is spent on asserting my intelligence over other people for egotistical reasons, then that means I have to have intelligence. Back to class denise )

It is an integral and highly noticeable facet in the psychology of failures that they must compensate for what is to them an inexplicable lack of achievement by the invention and maintenance of a facade of success. ( a failure. Interesting statement. That tends toward an almost fascistic definition by Denise of what is a sucess - herself presumably. That is an prime example of narcissim and rampant egotism. How does Denise decide who is a failure, and what failure is ? If she does define failure/success then doesnt that mean she is inflicting her own pathology onto others, and that she is in fact the classic sublimated 'Anti-Fascist Fascist 'who sees in the 'other' what she hates most in herself ? )

Unfortunately, any person not afflicted by the dullest of wits at once finds his or her eyes piercing through the transparency of the facade, to observe the snivelling ugliness beyond.( Yet again we have a classic 'projection' here. Denise, with her almost mystical powers to 'see beyond' the mundane is capable of pentrating into the essence of the object and assessing its worth. Classic fascist projectionism - the 'other' is ugly as the 'other' is the sublimated self and therefore the 'other' must be destroyed.)

This being the case, the talentless egotist is driven to find an audience unquestioningly appreciative of his sorely limited talents, one that will pay him out in the adulation he believes to be his due. ( If Denise thinks the BNP is an 'unquestioning audience' then she has never been to a BNP meeting and met the many many different types of people present. The BNP doesnt do 'adulation' it does debate and disagreement as the dialctic of its growth )

Thus such creatures naturally gravitate towards the claustrophobic world of the religious cult and the conspiracy-obsessed extremist political party, the natural constituency of which is the psychologically damaged and the intellectually restricted - the steady prey down the ages of con-artists sporting a wafer-thin patina of wholly bogus intelligence.

( Blimey anyone who goes to church, worships God instead of Marx is a nut eh Denise. Nice fascist projection again. As for ' conspiracy obsessed political parties' - wasnt it the Communists who said as Marx stated that Capitalism was a conspiracy to crush the workers and keep them in penury. It appears you are a conspiracy nut if you believe something that Denise thinks is wrong - another fascist prjection )

The ego and accompanying narcissim is massaged in these tiny worlds by those the sufferer considers to be his inferior, but it is never more than a temporary salve, for the sufferer cannot get himself to believe that he is any less than he thinks he is, and swells with resentment that outside his insular circle he is regarded as little more than an untalented whelp, worthy of nought but the deepest contempt.

( Interesting concept that I seek the adulation of the idiots that attack me. That would be a bit like a human being wanting the adulation and applause of monkeys. The contempt and hatred of my enemies is the source of my validation, not resentment. If my enemies LIKED me and agreed with me then I would know I was wrong. I know I am saying something worthwhile if the UAF fuckwits, The Hag, the Neo-Nazi dickheads who support Islam, and the AFA type muppets all attack me. )

Thus it is that the sufferer is impelled to take the argument in favour of his own perceived greatness to those who remain implacably unimpressed. He cannot help himself, for the twin curses of his ego and his narcissim tell him that he is by far the most clever fellow he knowns, and as such easily capable of getting one over on the lesser minds which have - unfathomably - neglected to fawn before the majesty of his cod-intellect.

( Fuck me - where did that come idea from Denise . I have never posted on the UAF blog or any lefty site. Thats a bit like arguing with maggots. Theres no point in arguing with them as they are idiots. The idea that I want the support or respect of the scum that I despise is hilarious. I dont want their respect, I just want to be in a position where I can help us clean out the Aegean stables with an iron broom. )

On the internet he feels this to be a simple affair. He will go about dressed with another identity (or indeed, identities), lauding himself in the third person in so extravagant a manner that it is readily obvious that it is the words of the narcissist we are reading, and not those of some distressed acolyte. His self-justifying arrogance will never allow him to acknowledge that his tactic if of the tried and failed variety, and he will attempt it again and again - his intellectual limitiations oblige him to.

( Blimey - It appears that I have become 'Legion', a dark daemon haunting the internet and appearing like some dark conjured spirit in hidden places with false faces and names to decieve the innocent lambs of the world wide web. It sounds to me like Denise might have some sort of psychosis developing )

And so I give you Lee John Barnes and his contribution to this debate - but I might well be addressing myself to Patrick Harrington or any number of others who, for having taken their own supporters for fools, beleive they can work the same trick on the world at large.

( Is that it - its crap denise sorry )

Sorry Denise, you aint ever gonna fuck me so just get over it baby ok.

It's a list of "the world's most powerful people," 100 of the bankers and media moguls, publishers and image makers who shape the lives of billions. It's an exclusive, insular club, one whose influence stretches around the globe but is concentrated strategically in the highest corridors of power.

More than half its members, at least by one count, are Jewish.

Topping the rankings for the second year in a row is gentile media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who's followed in second place by Steve Jobs, the non-Jewish co-founder of Apple and Pixar.

Highest among the Jewish entries are Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, co-listed at #3, down one from 2006. The article reported that the 34-year-old Brin and his wife "wore swimsuits as they stood under the huppa." (Page, whose mother is Jewish, was described in the spring 2006 edition of B'nai B'rith Magazine as "raised more in the mold of his father... whose religion was technology.")

They either have invented something that made them rich, have a talent or skills that made them rich or have succeeded on their own talents and skills.

They have created things that people want and this has made them rich. They havent made their money by manipulating the stock exchange or robbing banks - they have invented computer search engines, make popular films, run investment banks that produce good returns on investments and invented products that people want to buy. There have been no bearded Rabbis and Zionists robbing pensions funds and exploiting Christians. They are all self made people.

The people in the Nationalist movement who knock the Jewish people for being succesful make me sick.

Its just the whining of pathetic, petty little people without the talent to do what these people have done.

These people have built their careers, power and wealth on their talents.

Unike the whining muppets of the Nazi fringe, they have skills and talents that have rewarded them with wealth.

One of the greatest things to admire about the JEWISH PEOPLE IS THEIR ETHNO-CENTRISM.

The fact that the jewish people still live as a people, still help each other as a people and still have racial and group solidarity is the basis of their power as a community.

If White people had as much group solidarity as the Jewish people then we would be as succesful. But we dont have any group solidarity.

Instead you see whites screwing whites over for a few quid whenever the opportunity comes along.

From the betrayal of Caratacus by the Brigantes queen, Cartamandua as he fought the Roman Army that invaded Britain

The betrayal of Leonidas and the Spartans by their fellow Greek Epialtes, who guided the Persians through a backdoor mountain path to outflank Leonidas’ force

From the use of Gaullish mercenaries hired by the Roman Empire to destroy the army of Vercingetorix ;

The eradication of the indigenous Celtic and Anglo-Saxon people by the Norman invaders in 1066 ;

to the endless fratricidal wars started by jumped up potentates and princes and Kings that set White European nation at the throat of White European nation throughout our history ;

to the impoverishment of the white working class in the Industrial Revolution at the hands of the Aristocracy and the rich factory owners ;

to the theft of our lands such as the Lowland and Highland clearances that drove our people from our shores ;

the Enclosures Acts and the endless abuse and robbery of the weakest in our society who had their lands stolen ;

the use of our people as slaves in the Empire,

the deportation of pur poor people for stealing a rabbit to feed their starving families;

the massacre of striking workers by the army such as the Peterloo massacre;

the corrupt Popes and paedohiple preists that lived in palaces whilst their congregations lived in poverty,

Throughout its entire history the White Race has been a disgrace.

Like cockroaches fighting over scraps of bread beneath the dinner table of kings feasting , we have robbed and stole from each other throughout our history.

The Jews have always remained a people, both in blood and consciousness of their unity, and it is this which has made them strong.

We have fought like pigs for any riches on offer.

We should salute the Jewish people for showing us the true meaning of community, we should embrace their model of communal consciousness and follow the same path for our own people.

Instead the idiots on the nazi fringe have always attacked the Jews for being more succesful as a community than we have ever been.

The time has come not to demean the Jews for being as succesful as they are, but to mimic them and to learn from them.

They support each other and encourage their children to be academics and to succeed.

Nationalists think the thug in boots and braces is a role model for our children.

Their is no consipracy required to explain their success, they simply succeed as they have remembered the key to success, which is community and ethno-centrism.

Until we create a new community for ourselves then we will remain as we are, divided and weak.

There are many essential and fundamental lessons we as a Nationalists could learn from the Jewish people, but instead of listening and learning from them we are too busy talking a a load of conspiracy theory bollocks to ever listen and learn.

Instead we perpetuate our own stupidity as a people and a movement and continue to slide down the Socio-Economic Index as those like the Jews, who understand the importance of the ethno-centric principle continue to rise and rise.

The culture of European Individualism has led to our community suffering from a collapse of ethno-centrism.

Turn the Culture of Critique, Separation and Its Discontents (MacDonald 1998a; Ch. 1) and especially A People That Shall Dwell Alone (MacDonald 1994; Ch. 8) into a guide book for your actions and our tactical actions and strategy as a nationalist movemment.

Mimic the Jewish people and all their works, for they alone have demonstrated the wisdom that we need as a people to survive.

Make the work of Kevin McDonald the basis of our communities rebirth, turn his insights into what the Jews do as a people into the template for our ethno-centric survival.

Read it, understand it, assimilate its wisdom and use it in your own life to rebuild our community.

Put down your books by every Nationalist writer in the past - they have all failed and led us as a people nowhere.

The message that the Jews have given us is the only model that will work for us as well.

What we need in this country is to vote the judges into being allowed to hear cases.

At the moment the Judicial appointments in the UK are, and have been, primarily by the Lord Chancellor. The judicial appointments commitee is a joke. As the Lord Chancellor is a Labour apointee serving the Labour government then we get judges that are up the arse of the government that appoints them.

At the moment the system is designed to fast track - Yep, you guessed it - ethnic minorities and others as Judges.

The fact that Keith Vaz, one of the most bent politicians in Parliament, is the chairman of the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee makes the process even more farsical.

Alexandra Marks, a solicitor with Linklaters who has succeeded in being appointed a recorder, told the inquiry by the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee under Keith Vaz, MP, that progress had been made at the lower judicial rungs but on the more senior levels - and in particular the post of recorder - there were “real problems”, she said. “The conception is that the district judgeship is the glass ceiling.”

She later said: "Although the Ministry of Justice cites figures showing more women, ethnic minorities and solicitors generally being appointed to judicial posts, most of these are at the lower levels, such as to tribunals. There's nothing wrong with that, but it is the position of recorder that is the stepping-stone to the senior judiciary. Tribunal posts rarely lead to senior judicial posts."

Up until a few years appointment to be a judge was based on what public school you went too - now its what political party you support and what colour you are.

If anyone calls that an improvement then they are barking.

Apart from the government, the primary reason why our country is so fucked up is because of the Judges.

Following the Gramsci method many leftists infiltrated the legal system in the past so as to use the law to change society they way they wanted it to be changed.

This is why we get the judges using the law as a political platform.

We even have the farsical situation that Judges issue reports on how their chums in the judicary are doing their jobs, like here on 22 June 2007 Sir Igor Judge, President of the Queen’s Bench Division, and Head of Criminal Justice has responded to the release by the Attorney General’s Office of statistics on references to the Court of Appeal of what he regarded as unduly lenient sentences imposed in the Crown Court.

Sir Igor Judge, President of the Queen’s Bench Division, and Head of Criminal Justice has responded to the release by the Attorney General’s Office of statistics on references to the Court of Appeal of what he regarded as unduly lenient sentences imposed in the Crown Court.

Sir Igor said:

"The right conclusion to draw from the statistics is that the system is working as intended.

“This information shows that from time to time sentencing decisions are made which the Court of Appeal considers are wrong. Accordingly they are corrected.

“Only around 100 cases were referred in the last year, and they did not all lead to an increased sentence. To provide some context there are around 80,000 cases dealt with in the Crown Court in any one year . "

There is no other British institution that operates with the unassailable power that the judiciary wields. Its unelected practitioners are largely untouchable, unaccountable and unpunishable. There are many good, and some great, judges; but the worst are an affront to justice and give the judiciary as a whole a bad name. In the past five years Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, has referred 501 sentences to the Court of Appeal because they were felt to be unfair and in need of adjustment.

Although these cases include a range of offences such as rape, people trafficking and street robbery, many involve serious child abuse. Overall, 373 sentences were found by the Court of Appeal to be unduly lenient. In 303 cases sentences were increased. About 70% of sentences were extended in child abuse cases.

Not every sentence increased by the Court of Appeal is due to a judicial error. But there are no real professional consequences for judges whose mistakes result in their sentences being regularly questioned and overturned. There is no red card system or judicial sin bin for blundering judges who time after time let serious criminals off too lightly. There should be. Repeat offenders should be banned from the bench — by their own colleagues in the Court of Appeal — for extended periods.

What does a judge have to do — or fail to do — to be suspended or removed from office? Moreover, once he or she is proved to be incapable, who makes the decision that it is time to go? The mere fact of having made decisions that had been reversed on appeal does not constitute incapacity or misbehaviour. Even a criminal conviction, such as drink-driving, does not automatically mean expulsion.

Only the Queen can dismiss a High Court judge, and only then after a motion from both houses of parliament. More junior judges may be dismissed by the lord chancellor — but only, it seems, if a judge has completely lost his or her marbles or misbehaved so badly that he or she can no longer credibly sit in a court of law.

The current system of appraisal and scrutiny is still pretty primitive. A furious headline in a tabloid newspaper is usually the worst that can happen to a judge. Some lobby and victim support groups list the names of judges who have consistently sentenced rapists and paedophiles to prison terms so low that the Court of Appeal is required again and again to increase them. But that appears to be it.

The new sentencing guidelines council should help to reduce the number of judges passing inappropriate sentences by providing clearer and tighter guidelines, but there is no shaming process or serious consequence for the judge whose sentences are regularly referred to the Court of Appeal.

Some of the sentences handed down for the crimes that most appal society are so inadequate that they undermine confidence in the criminal justice system and compound the anguish already felt by victims. One vivid recent example concerns the man who received a three-year community rehabilitation order for six counts of indecent assault against his seven-year-old daughter. Richard Benson, the circuit judge, described the case as being at “the more bland end of the spectrum”. In a separate case, Benson sentenced a man to less than four years in prison for raping his stepdaughter more than 100 times. The attorney-general intervened and the Court of Appeal increased both sentences.

In another particularly nasty case, a man convicted of raping a 13-month-old baby and possessing indecent images of children received a five-year prison sentence. No crime offends society more than those against children. But how sensitive are our judges to the public mood? A rare example of a judge subjecting himself to public grilling was John Gower, who sentenced the paedophile Roy Whiting to four years in 1995 for the sexual assault of a little girl. Although Whiting went on to murder Sarah Payne, having served just over two years, Gower described criticism that the original sentence was too short as “water off a duck’s back”.

After Judge Gabriel Hutton fell asleep twice during a rape trial in 2001, causing it to be abandoned at immeasurable cost to the victim and £35,000 to the taxpayer, his punishment was a rebuke from the lord chancellor. In all, 37 of his cases were successfully appealed before his retirement.

Are the men and women on the bench arrogant, grandly and necessarily aloof, hopelessly isolated, or simply independently objective? The answer is probably yes on all counts. Judges need to know their actions will have consequences for them. The public also needs to know what power it has to seek redress.

It is little known that anyone can complain about a bad sentence to the attorney-general or the solicitor-general. Not only do courts usually fail to publicise this right of appeal, there is also an absolute 28-day deadline for making one. All days count, including weekends and bank holidays. In practice, that means the parents of a child raped by a paedophile have only days to act after sentence is passed. Many are just too traumatised to face this.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1796332,00.html

Craig Sweeney, 24, was jailed for life at Cardiff crown court for the kidnapping and sexual assault of a three-year-old girl, but was told he could be considered for parole after five years and 108 days.

More than 100 criminals, including murderers and sex offenders, had their sentences increased last year because judges were "unduly lenient", figures showed yesterday. The number was 40 more than in 2005 and will re-ignite the row over "soft judges". The figures, issued by the office of Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney-General, also included a roll-call of judges who handed down what turned out to be light sentences.

Lord Goldsmith took 143 offenders to the Court of Appeal under his powers to challenge sentences considered not harsh enough. In 113 cases, the sentence was judged to be unduly lenient and in 108 cases it was increased. This number was the highest in the last six years.

Judges dealing with sexual offenders were most likely to let offenders off too lightly, the figures revealed.

Judge Addison, at Guildford, passed a suspended sentence of nine months on a swimming instructor who sexually touched two eight-year-old girls on two occasions. The Court of Appeal increased this to six months' immediate imprisonment followed by 18 months on supervision.

The same judge gave another offender nine months for a sexual assault; this was put up to three years.

An offender jailed for two years by Judge Rucker at Truro for six indecent assaults had his sentence increased to five years.

A six-year sentence for five indecent assaults and one sexual assault passed by Judge Coleman at Peterborough was increased to nine years.

Judge Hume-Jones, sitting in Taunton, gave a community rehabilitation sentence to a man convicted of three rapes. This was increased to two years' imprisonment.

Among other cases in which judges sentenced too leniently was that of a lorry driver who killed two people by overtaking dangerously. He had a three-year sentence, passed by Judge Matthews at Hereford, increased to five-and-a-half years.

And a teenager who caused the deaths of two people by dangerous driving was given 200 hours of unpaid work by Judge Moore in Sheffield; this was increased to 12 months' detention.

http://www.news-alliance.com/judges_soft_on_paedophiles.html

Keith Fenn, 24, was given concurrent two-year and 18-month jail sentences at Oxford Crown Court by Judge Julian Hall for two attacks on a 10-year-old girl in a park. But because of the amount of time Fenn has already spent in prison awaiting sentence, Fenn could be free in a few months time. The sentence was condemned by one MP as "pathetically lenient".

The Attorney General Lord Goldsmith acted after Tory backbencher Mike Penning wrote to him protesting about Fenn's treatment. A spokesman for Lord Goldsmith said: "He has asked for the papers from the CPS so he can consider whether or not to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient."

But the real villain of the peace is Judge Julian Hall, at the centre of a storm over the "pathetically" lenient sentence he imposed after hearing that the girl had appeared much older than her age. He said Fenn's young victim had "dressed provocatively" – a statement which sparked public condemnation. Fenn could have been jailed for life after twice attacking the girl in a riverside park but Judge Hall took pity on him after hearing that the girl had appeared much older than her age.

The same judge caused uproar earlier this year by setting free another paedophile and telling him to give his victim money "to buy a nice new bicycle". What on earth a bicycle would do to alleviate the victim’s mental anguish is quite beyond reason and the judge’s own state of mind should be examined.

There was fury last night as a failed asylum seeker who was jailed for just four months after he killed a schoolgirl while driving while banned mocked justice yet again.

Aso Mohammed Ibrahim was jailed after he knocked down and left 12-year-old Amy Houston to die in the street in 2003.

The Iraqi Kurd was already on bail for driving while disqualified and had twice been banned from driving when he ran off leaving the schoolgirl trapped beneath the wheels of his black Rover.

But yesterday Ibrahim walked free from court after he again pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified.

Remember the tragedy of the nine year old Callum Oakford who was killed by a speeding illegal immigrant who fled the scene after the accident on new Year’s Day 2004 in Sussex. The police did a good job of tracking down Kamel Kadri, an Algerian who had no licence, no MoT and no insurance. Kadri abandoned the car and disposed of the keys. He came to Britain using a stolen passport and his asylum claim was rejected but he remained in the country. Alarmingly he was charged with only minor motoring offences and sentenced to just 8 months for failing to stop after an accident. Kadri was given a further 16 months for having a false passport and banned for driving for two years.

24 hours later the sentence of 8 months was reduced because the judge had exceeded his powers. The maximum sentence he could impose under the current law for failing to stop is 6 months. Callum's family is understandably outraged by this injustice.

Three asylum seekers were charged in Northampton in February 2004 with causing the death of 26 year old teacher, Deborah Peaty. She was seven months pregnant but sadly her daughter Charlotte who was delivered in hospital immediately after the crash did not survive either. Speaking through an interpreter, Sri Lakan Ratnam Yogan and two others entered a plea of not guilty. They were remanded on bail while the case was adjourned.

In February 2004 Yogan fled from Britain while on bail. A serious blunder by the authorities meant that he was not forced to hand over his travel documents allowing easy passage from the UK to escape the trial and whatever punishment he was going to receive. To make matters worse a second asylum seeker involved with the tragic accident has also skipped bail. The police wisely opposed bail a judge thought it was perfectly safe to allow the killers several weeks of freedom in the hope they would willingly return to court to face trial. Police across Europe have been asked to keep an eye out for the wanted men.

A failed asylum seeker was jailed for just four months for killing 12 year old Amy Houston in Blackburn, Lancashire after a hit and run incident in November 2003. Aso Mohammed Ibrahim, a Kurdish Iraqi, got behind the wheel despite being disqualified and having no insurance. Amy's father said "He's laughing at the justice system and he is laughing at every decent person in this country. He will be back on the streets in two months while we face a life sentence." The magistrates, who could only impose a maximum six-month jail term, gave Ibriahim credit for an early guilty plea.

A father of two was killed by Nana Kemajou, a 30 year old illegal migrant from Cameroon. Kemajou was speeding at 90mph when he hit the back of Paul Firtchley's car in January 2004. Kemajou was given a sentence of only two and a half years. Judge Jamie Tabor claimed the sentencing guidelines for dangerous driving where the aggravating factor is speeding has a maximum of just 3 years. Kemajou had been living in Gloucester under the name of a French national and used a bogus National Insurance number to get a job at a dairy. He had no license and no insurance and blamed the accident on Mr. Fritchley despite witnesses saying otherwise.

A twice-failed Iraqi asylum seeker has been jailed for his part in the “terrifying and degrading” gang rape of a Blackpool schoolgirl.

Awat Ahmed, 27, of Cookson Street, will serve at least five years in prison after being found guilty of raping the 15-year-old by Lancaster Crown Court in May this year. Judge Andrew Blake, ordered that Ahmed be deported after serving his sentence. The court heard how Ahmed, is believed to be one of four men who took it in turns to systematically rape the girl after meeting her at the Better Burger takeaway, on the Promenade, and tricking her into accompanying them, by car, to a house on Caroline Street in the town on May 17th last year.

A judge has attacked the failings in immigration controls that allowed a failed asylum seeker to remain free for more than two years after he committed an "appalling and brutal" rape.

Judge David Rennie, who jailed Latif Karim, a 38-year-old Iraqi, for six years last month (22nd May) said that the assailant had been "invisible" to the authorities, even after being arrested for a motoring offence and identified as the rapist by his DNA.

A week-long trial had heard that Karim arrived at Dover in 2000 and claimed asylum. In October, 2002, he attacked his victim after barging his way into a flat in Eastbourne and, the following month, was ordered out of the country following rejection of his asylum claim.The judge also said that, had the jury at Lewes Crown Court acquitted Karim, he would probably have been allowed by the immigration service to disappear once more because of the "confusion" that surrounded such cases.

A failed asylum seeker jailed for child rape is to receive around £50,000 in damages after a judge ruled he had been unlawfully kept behind bars while the Home Office tried to deport him to Somalia.

He won the payout despite being offered the opportunity to go voluntarily - but he preferred to stay in a British prison with free bed and board.

The pay-out is all the more astonishing because the authorities effectively have little choice but to keep him in prison.

He cannot be let out on to the streets in Britain because he is considered a danger to the public - especially women.

But equally, it is very difficult to deported him back to Somalia, despite failing in his asylum application.

Until July no airline was willing to fly compulsory deportees there, and only one will do so now - but it is dealing with a backlog. The man himself, meanwhile, refuses to go voluntarily because he says it is too dangerous for him back home.

He has, in effect, elected to stay in Britain - yet is claiming compensation for doing so. All the while, on top of his £50,000 damages and £100,000 legal fees paid by the taxpayer, he is costing more than £37,000 a year to keep in prison.

His stay in prison beyond his sentence has already cost well over £100,000 to the taxpayer. And he is also entitled to remain anonymous in the media.

This is because the Court of Appeal follows the convention in other European courts that publicly naming asylum seekers may put them at danger from those they may be fleeing from.

The 30-year-old entered Britain illegally on a false Kenyan passport in 1995, and within three years had raped a 13-year old girl at knifepoint. Probation officers warned that if freed he might stalk his victim and attack her again, and that he poses a risk to all women, and the public in general.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/congo/story/0,,2155011,00.html

A high court judge has ordered Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, to stop sending failed asylum seekers back to the Democratic Republic of Congo.Mr Justice Collins heard evidence that some of those who had been returned by the UK had suffered rape and torture at the hands of officials or agents after arriving at Kinshasa by charter plane in February.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1615495.ece

The deportation of hundreds of Darfuri asylum-seekers was halted yesterday after three judges ruled that the conditions in camps near Khartoum were “unduly harsh”.

John Reid, the Home Secretary, lost his attempt to continue removing failed asylum-seekers to squatter areas or refugee camps near the capital of Sudan. He suffered another setback when the Court of Appeal refused him permission to take the case to the House of Lords.

A High Court judge has stepped in to stop the deportation from the UK of a failed Zimbabwean asylum seeker who is on hunger strike. The 26-year-old woman, being held at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre, had been told she would be put on a flight to Harare on Saturday night.

A High Court judge has called on the government to restore the payment of state benefits to asylum seekers until he passes judgement in six test cases. Mr Justice Collins urged Home Secretary David Blunkett to "adopt a liberal approach" as he reserved judgment after a two-day hearing in London.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,1711908,00.html

A high court judge yesterday delivered a stinging attack on America, saying its idea of what constituted torture was out of step with that of "most civilised nations".The criticism, directed at the Bush administration's approach to human rights, was made by Mr Justice Collins during a hearing over the refusal by ministers to request the release of three British residents held at Guantánamo Bay.

Yet again the dumb fucking Leftist and Liberal judges that infest the legal system like lice on a dying dogs back, have let a piece of shit free.

A thug who left a 97-year-old war veteran blind in one eye after trying to push past him on a tram escaped prison today.

Stephen Gordon, 44, was told it would not "protect the public" if he was sent to jail.

He was given a three-year supervision order, which requires him to seek psychiatric treatment, after being convicted of grievous bodily harm.

He hit Shah Chaudhury in the face and called him a "b******" in an unprovoked attack on a tram at East Croydonm, Surrey.

Mr Chaudhury, who walks with the aid of two sticks, lost the use of one eye.

He had lived independently but after the attack his health deteriorated and he is now in a care home.

Mr Chaudhury said in a statement that he got on to the crowded tram but had to stand because nobody would give him a seat.

Because of his unsteadiness he had to grip the rail with both hands but as Gordon pushed past, his hat was knocked off.

Gordon lashed out calling him a "b******" and punched him in the eye.

Mr Chaudhury said: "I had done nothing to provoke him."

After the attack Gordon left the tram and was chased by two children who provided vital evidence.

At the trial Gordon, of Academy Gardens, Croydon, claimed Mr Chaudhury had punched him and the CCTV footage which caught him was fake.

Sentencing him Judge Kenneth Macrae said: "I have no doubt that the root cause of this offence was your illness. It was a single blow but the consequences were terrible.

"At first blush, an immediate and significant prison sentence would well be justified. That would do nothing to protect the public in the future and my real concern is the public."

Detective Sergeant Sam Blackburn, of British Transport Police, said he was disappointed with the sentence.

This judge is the same cunt that gave the Wonderland paedophile gang sentences that equated to 15 months in prison.

SEVEN paedophiles jailed yesterday for membership of the world's biggest child pornography ring will all be free within 15 months.

The men, the British branch of a 180-member "fellowship" spanning a dozen countries, received sentences ranging from 12 months to two and a half years. Each will be released after serving half his sentence. One man who had 9,000 pornographic images of children on his computer when he was arrested will leave prison in six months.

Children's charities condemned the leniency of the sentences, which they said would not deter other men from taking part in the widespread distribution of internet paedophile pornography. Between them, the seven traded more than 120,000 "depraved" and "unimaginable" images of children as young as three months on a highly secretive internet channel known as the Wonderland Club.

They belonged to "a vast international lending library" of paedophile pornography purely for personal gratification. There was no commercial gain. All seven pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute indecent images of children between 1996 and 1998 and were liable to maximum prison terms of three years.

But there was widespread anger that none of the seven received the maximum sentence not available to the courts.They had their sentences reduced for making guilty pleas and because they were involved to differing degrees with the club, which had an entry requirement of 10,000 paedophilic images.

In a joint statement, the NSPCC, Barnardo's, ChildLine, the Children's Society, the National Children's Bureau, NCH (formerly National Children's Homes) and National Council of Voluntary Child Care Organisations said they were "deeply disappointed" with the sentencing. John Carr, internet consultant with NCH, said: "It sends out a contrary message to child sex offenders who use the internet. We viewed the change in the law as a recognition that these offences pose a very serious threat to the safety of children.

"The leniency displayed seems to say that this type of abuse will be tolerated by today's society. British police are committing more, and better, resources to tackle internet crime and the prevention of child sex abuse is now among their highest priorities. However, if this is not reflected in sentencing, child sex abuse will continue to thrive on the internet." Det Supt Peter Spindler of the National Crime Squad, which led the investigation, said: "This operation has helped change the law in this and other countries."

Judge Kenneth MacRae told the men at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court that their activities "pandered to the basest interests of man". He said: "Children are the future; they should be cared for and protected. All of you subscribing to Wonderland betray that principle by the use and abuse of children for your perverted gratification, horrifying all right-minded people. You have directly or indirectly exploited the most vulnerable."

David Hines, 30, of Bognor Regis, West Sussex, was sentenced to two and a half years and placed on the sex offenders' register for life. He was the senior European controller of the Wonderland network and had been abused as a child. Ian Baldock, 31, of St Leonards, East Sussex, who was an environmental campaigner and worked for the Oxford University Press, also received two and a half years and was placed on the register for life.

The five others must register as sex offenders for seven years. Gavin Seagers, 29, of Dartford, Kent, a university graduate whose father is a convicted child abuser, was jailed for two years. He was a commander in the Sea Cadets before his arrest.

Antoni Skinner, 36, a computer consultant, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, received an 18-month sentence. Ahmet Ali, 31, a licensed taxi driver, of Catford, south London, was jailed for two years. Andrew Barlow, 25, of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, was jailed for two years and Frederick Stephens, 46, "a family man" of Hayes, Middlesex, received 12 months.

Gary Salt, who achieved high status in Wonderland by placing pictures of himself abusing children on the internet, is serving 12 years for child sex offences. Stephen Ellis, 40, of Norwich, killed himself after being charged and David Chaikin, 36, another Wonderland member from Maidenhead, Berkshire, received an eight-month sentence in 1999.

The director of child protection charity Kidscape, Dr Michelle Elliott, said: "You would get a longer sentence for accumulating masses of parking tickets or for burglary. I am absolutely stupefied by this leniency.

"It sends a clear message that these crimes are not being taken seriously."

THIS CUNT NEEDS SACKING -

These two verdicts reveal that the Judges as well as the government are part of the problem of the British justice system.

The fucking judges put Kevin Hughes away for 2 years because he had a scuffle with an asylum seeker that led to the asylum seekers shirt being ripped.

This cunt blinds an old man and he walks free - yet we all know the real reason dont we. Yep, hes from an ethnic minority.

As far as I was taught at Law School the principle concerning liability for an individuals actions is that unless they were in the grip of a mental illness to an extent that they were unaware of what they were doing then they are liable for it.

This fucker was mentally competent enough to LIE in the interview with the police about the attack in order to cover his arse.

Therefore he should have been jailed for his crime and got treatment in prison.

Twenty-three male Black African and 23 male Caucasian subjects, ascertained as sedentary, participated in this study designed to determine whether there were differences in skeletal muscle histochemical and biochemical characteristics between racial groups. Muscle fiber type proportions (I, IIa, and IIb), fiber areas and activities of several enzyme markers of different energy metabolic pathways were determined from a biopsy of the vastus lateralis.

Results indicated that Caucasians had a higher percent type I (8%, P less than 0.01) and a lower percent type IIa (6.7%, P less than 0.05) fiber proportions than Africans. No significant differences were observed between the two racial groups in the type IIb fiber proportion or in the three fiber type areas. Enzymes catalyzing reactions in phosphagenic [creatine kinase (CK)] and glycolytic [hexokinase (HK), phosphofructokinase (PFK), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)] metabolic pathways had significantly higher activities (about 30-40%) in the Black African group than in the Caucasian group (P less than 0.01). No significant difference was noted in the activities of oxidative enzymes [malate dehydrogenase (MDH), oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (OGDH), and 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (HADH)]. Consequently, the PFK/OGDH ratio was significantly elevated in Africans (P less than 0.05). The racial differences observed between Africans and Caucasians in fiber type proportion and enzyme activities of the phosphagenic and glycolytic metabolic pathways may well result from inherited variation. These data suggest that sedentary male Black individuals are, in terms of skeletal muscle characteristics, well endowed for sport events of short duration.

-----------------------------------------------

2. ACE differences:

-----------------------------------------------

Am J Med Sci 2000 Jul;320(1):18-23

Elevated mortality rates from circulatory disease in African American men and women of Los Angeles County, California--a possible genetic susceptibility?

Henderson SO, Coetzee GA, Ross RK, Yu MC, Henderson BE.

OBJECTIVE: Reports of higher mortality in African Americans have often focused on socioeconomic differences. Such differences do not explain the excess mortality in African Americans compared with Hispanics in Los Angeles County. We suggest the existence of genetic factors to explain at least some of the differences in mortality risk. METHODS: We compared the mortality rates from circulatory diseases in African American and Hispanic adults of Los Angeles County for 1988 to 1992 with the frequency of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) genotype. RESULTS: African American adults 45 to 74 years old had a 2-fold higher overall mortality rate than Hispanics. The largest differences were seen for hypertensive disease and cardiomyopathy in men; the most striking differences were seen in the youngest age group. Rates were lower in women than in men, but African American women also showed substantial excess compared with Hispanics. ACE genotype also showed a significant difference between the Hispanic and African American population; the latter had a significantly higher prevalence of the DD genotype, which is associated with a higher level of circulating enzyme, and lower prevalence of the II genotype, which is associated with a lower enzyme level.

CONCLUSION: African American adults aged 45 to 74 years in Los Angeles County have a substantial excess mortality from hypertensive diseases compared with a similar Hispanic population. The frequency of the ACE DD genotype was higher in African Americans than in Hispanics. These studies may indirectly support the possibility of a genetic contribution to the excess hypertensive disease mortality in African Americans.

-----------------------------------------------

3. Body and Bone Mass Differences:

-----------------------------------------------

Ethn Health 1996 Dec;1(4):337-47

Ethnic differences in body composition and their relation to health and disease in women.

Gasperino J.

Differences in body composition between black and white women have been well established. Black women have more bone and muscle mass, but less fat, as a percentage of body weight, than white women, after controlling for ethnic differences in age, body weight, and height. In addition, black women have more upper-body fat than white women. These ethnic differences in body composition appear to be associated with disease risk in women. The greater skeletal and muscle mass in black compared to white women appears to protect them from osteoporosis. The relationship between fat distribution and cardiovascular disease also appears to be influenced by ethnicity. This review has two purposes: (1) To examine previous research investigating ethnic differences in body composition between black and white women; and (2) To demonstrate the relationship between body composition and disease in women as a function of ethnicity.

Biological differences exist in the body composition of blacks and whites. We reviewed literature on the differences and similarities between the 2 races relative to fat-free body mass (water, mineral, and protein), fat patterning, and body dimensions and proportions. In general, blacks have a greater bone mineral density and body protein content than do whites, resulting in a greater fat-free body density. Additionally, there are racial differences in the distribution of subcutaneous fat and the length of the limbs relative to the trunk. The possibility that these differences are a result of ethnicity rather than of race is also examined. Because most equations that predict relative body fat were derived from predominantly white samples, biological variation between the races in these body-composition indexes has practical significance. Systematic error can result in the inaccurate estimation of the relative body fat of blacks, and therefore of definitions of obesity, if these inherent differences are ignored.

J Appl Physiol 1984 Jun;56(6):1647-9

Density of lean body mass is greater in blacks than in whites.

Schutte JE, Townsend EJ, Hugg J, Shoup RF, Malina RM, Blomqvist CG.

Previous studies have reported that Blacks have 10-20% more bone mineral than Whites of the same height. Theoretically, this should mean that the lean body mass of Blacks is denser than that of Whites, such that formulas for calculating lean body mass from density in Whites will overestimate the lean body mass (and thus underestimate fatness) in Blacks. To determine if the lean body mass of Blacks is indeed denser than that of Whites, we measured density, total body water, and anthropometric dimensions in 19 white and 15 black male college students. The black and white cohorts were nearly identical in height, weight, and total body water. Among the Whites there was no significant difference between the observed density and that predicted from anthropometry, nor were there any significant differences between the dimensions of body composition calculated from total body water and from observed density. Among the Blacks, however, the observed density was significantly greater than that predicted from anthropometry, and the lean body mass calculated from observed density was significantly greater than that calculated from total body water. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the lean body mass of the Blacks is denser than that of the Whites. Separate formulas should therefore be used for converting density to body composition. Based on our data, the correct formula for Blacks is: %fat = 100 X [(4.374/density) - 3.928]. This formula indicates a lean body density of 1.113 g/cm3 in Blacks compared with 1.100 in Whites.

Blacks in the United States have the highest prostate cancer rate in the world and nearly twice that of whites in the United States. The 2:1 black-to-white ratio in prostate cancer rates is already apparent at age 45 years, the age at which the earliest prostate cancer cases occur. This finding suggests that the factor(s) responsible for the difference in rates occurs, or first occurs, early in life. Testosterone has been hypothesized to play a role in the etiology of prostate cancer, because testosterone and its metabolite, dihydrotestosterone, are the principal trophic hormones that regulate growth and function of epithelial prostate tissue. This report gives the results of assays of circulating steroid hormone levels in white and black college students in Los Angeles, CA. Mean testosterone levels in blacks were 19% higher than in whites, and free testosterone levels were 21% higher. Both these differences were statistically significant. Adjustment by analysis of covariance for time of sampling, age, weight, alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and use of prescription drugs somewhat reduced the differences. After these adjustments were made, blacks had a 15% higher testosterone level and a 13% higher free testosterone level. A 15% difference in circulating testosterone levels could readily explain a twofold difference in prostate cancer risk.

Black athletes currently dominate long-distance running events in South Africa. In an attempt to explain an apparently superior running ability of black South African athletes at distances > 3 km, we compared physiological measurements in the fastest 9 white and 11 black South African middle-to long-distance runners. Whereas both groups ran at a similar percentage of maximal O2 uptake (%VO2max) over 1.65-5 km, the %VO2max sustained by black athletes was greater than that of white athletes at distances > 5 km (P < 0.001). Although both groups had similar training volumes, black athletes reported that they completed more exercise at > 80% VO2max (36 +/- 18 vs. 14 +/- 7%: P < 0.005). When corrections were made for the black athletes' smaller body mass, their superior ability to sustain a high %VO2max could not be explained by any differences in VO2max, maximal ventilation, or submaximal running economy. Superior distance running performance of the black athletes was not due to a greater (+/- 50%) percentage of type I fibers but was associated with lower blood lactate concentrations during exercise. Time to fatigue during repetitive isometric muscle contractions was also longer in black runners (169 +/- 65 vs. 97 +/- 69 s; P < 0.05), but whether this observation explains the superior endurance or was due to the lower peak muscle strength (46.3 +/- 10.3 vs. 67.5 +/- 18.0 Nm/l lean thigh volume; P < 0.01) remains to be established.

Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 1990;61(1-2):68-72

Physiological differences between black and white runners during a treadmill marathon.

The aim of this study was to characterize Kenyan runners in regard to their oxygen uptake and blood and ammonia responses when running. Untrained Kenyan boys (14.2 +/- 0.2 years) and Scandinavian runners were included for comparison. The studies were performed at altitude (approximately 2.000 m.a.s.l.) and, for several Kenyan and Scandinavian runners, at sea level as well.

At altitude sedentary adolescent Kenyan boys had a mean maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) of 47 (44-51) ml.kg-1.min-1, whereas similarly aged boys regularly walking or running but not training for competition reached above 62 (58-71) ml.kg-1.min-1 in VO2max. Kenyan runners in active training had 68 +/- 1.4 ml.kg-1.min-1 at altitude and 79.9 +/- 1.4 ml.kg-1.min-1 at sea level, with individuals reaching 85 ml.kg-1.min-1. The best Scandinavian runners were not significantly different from the Kenyan runners in VO2max both at altitude and at sea level, but none of the Scandinavians reached as high individual values as observed for some Kenyan runners. The running efficiency, determined as the oxygen cost at a given running speed, was less in the Kenyan runners, and the difference became more pronounced when body weight was expressed in ml.kg-0.75 min-1. Blood lactate concentration was in general lower in the Kenyan than in the Scandinavian runners, and the Kenyans also had extremely low ammonia accumulation in the blood even at very high exercise intensities. It is concluded that it is the physical activity during childhood, combined with intense training as teenagers that brings about the high VO2max observed in some Kenyan runners. Their high aerobic capacity, as well as their good running economy, makes them such superior runners. In addition, their low blood lactate and ammonia accumulation in blood when running may also be contributing factors.

The study comprises data on 12 Scandinavian runners who had either trained for two weeks in Kenya (n = 6; approximately 2000 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.)) or in Portugal (n = 6; sea level (s.l.)) and on 13 Kenyan runners (9 junior and 4 senior) living and training at approximately 2000 m.a.s.l. Muscle biopsies were taken before and after the training camps in the Scandinavian runners and once on the Kenyan runners from the vastus lateralis (v.l.) and the gastrocnemius muscles.

Muscle fiber size and composition were similar in the various groups (4.6-5.1 X 10(3) microns2; ST approximately 60-70%; FTa 30-40%; FTb < 6.0%) with a tendency for some more (approximately 5%) FTa fibers in the gastrocnemius muscle. Mean number of capillaries in v.l. varies between 405-493 cap.(mm2)-1, 2.0-2.7 cap.fiber-1, and 4.4-6.2 cap around the various fiber types, with the Kenyan seniors having the highest and the Kenyan juniors the lowest values. All runners had 10-20% more capillaries in their gastrocnemius muscle. Similar levels for citrate synthase (CS) activity were found in the v.l. of the Kenyan seniors and Scandinavian runners, whereas the Kenyan juniors were 10-15% lower. The 3- hydroxyacyl-CoA-dehydrogenase (HAD) activity was 20% higher in the Kenyan than in the Scandinavian runners. In the gastrocnemius muscle, both enzyme activities were 20-50% higher in Scandinavian and Kenyan runners. The ratio for lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoform1-2 and isoform4-5 was increased when training at altitude due to a lowering of LDH4-5 and became close to what was observed in the Kenyan runners.

Dermatology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Children's Hospital Medical Center, OH 45229, USA.

Previous studies of lipids in adolescent males have shown greater increases in triglycerides and decreases in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in white boys compared with black boys, significant correlations between sex hormones and lipids, and complex body mass index (BMI) hormone-lipid associations. Within this frame of reference, we assessed race, BMI, and sex hormones as predictors of lipid parameters in 536 black and white boys recruited from area schools. Black boys were more advanced in puberty than white boys. After adjusting for pubertal stage, estradiol (E2) levels were higher in black boys but free testosterone (T) levels did not differ. Age, pubertal stage, race, BMI, free T, and E2 were entered as explanatory variables for lipids in backward stepwise regression analyses. The BMI and race were retained in every model. Black boys had lower triglycerides and apolipoprotein B (apo B) and higher HDL-C. E2 was inversely associated with total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), apo B, and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio. Free T was inversely associated with HDL-C and positively associated with apo B. Given the increases in free T and E2 during adolescence and the association of these hormones with both atherogenic and protective lipid parameters, racial differences in E2 could contribute to the more atherogenic lipid profile found in white boys after puberty.

Dementia and race: are there differences between African Americans and Caucasians?

Froehlich TE, Bogardus ST Jr, Inouye SK.

Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06504, USA.

This study provides an overview of racial differences in etiology and prevalence of dementia. Preliminary findings indicate that the clinical and molecular etiologies of dementia differ between races. African Americans have a higher prevalence of vascular dementia and a lower prevalence of Parkinsonian dementia than do Caucasians. The genetic etiologies of Alzheimer's-type dementia appear to differ between African Americans and Caucasians. The variations in dementia etiologies and in cognitive testing accuracy between races suggests the urgent need to develop racially appropriate cognitive assessment methods and to develop preventive and treatment etiologies differently according to racial background of individual patients.

Publication Types: · Review · Review literature

-------------------------------------------

Racial differences in the sums of skinfolds and percentage of body fat estimated from impedance in black and white girls, 9 to 19 years of age: the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study.

OBJECTIVES: This National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study report assesses racial differences in fat patterning in black and white girls ages 9 to 19 years, comparing the sum of triceps and subscapular skinfolds (SSFs) and percentage of body fat (%BF) from impedance as two indices of adiposity. It is hypothesized that racial differences in fat patterning manifest during puberty. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: SSF and %BF were measured annually. Racial differences in SSF and %BF were evaluated by age. Associations between %BF and SSF were evaluated using the Pearson's correlations coefficient. Classification agreement was evaluated using the kappa-statistic. Effects of pubertal stage and race on classification agreement were examined using multivariate models. RESULTS: White girls had a greater mean %BF at 9 to 12 years of age; black girls had a greater %BF thereafter. Black girls had a greater mean SSF at every age. The correlation coefficient between SSF and %BF was 0.79, and there was good agreement between %BF and SSF in separating high (>85th percentile) from not high (kappa = 0.60 for whites and 0.66 for blacks). SSF associated more with %BF in prepuberty and early puberty than in late puberty. DISCUSSION: Despite good correlations between %BF and SSF, the two methods indicate different fat patterns in black and white girls.

PMID: 11346671 [PubMed - in process]

The heritability of intelligence in Japan.

Lynn R, Hattori K.

University of Ulster, Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Japanese data for 543 monozygotic (MZ) twins and 134 dizygotic (DZ) twins tested for intelligence at the age of 12 give correlation coefficients of .782 and .491, respectively, indicating a heritability of .582. Heavier twins at birth have significantly higher IQs at the age of 12, suggesting that prenatal nutrition exerts a significant effect on intelligence.

PMID: 2256894 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Behav Res Ther 1993 Jul;31(6):569-74 Related Articles, Books

Is optimism heritable? A study of twins.

Schulman P, Keith D, Seligman ME.

Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104-6196.

Is optimism heritable? We gave the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ), a measure of optimism, to 115 monozygotic twin pairs (MZ) and 27 dizygotic twin pairs (DZ). The intraclass correlations of the ASQ scores were 0.48 for MZ twins (P < 0.0001) and 0 for DZ twins. Though the sample size of DZ twins is small, these results suggest that there may be a substantial genetic effect on optimism. We speculate, however, that the mechanism for the transmission of this, and other complex personality traits, may be highly indirect.

Acta Physiol Scand 2002 Jul;175(3):183-7

Comparison of viscoelastic characteristics in triceps surae between Black and White athletes.

Fukashiro S, Abe T, Shibayama A, Brechue WF.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate race differences in viscoelastic characteristics of triceps surae muscle group. Black and white college sprint type athletes (n=44) participated in this study. Viscoelastic properties were assessed using the free vibration technique: subjects sat with their forefeet on the edge of a force-plate (Kistler, Switzerland) and support a frame loaded with weights (0-40 kg) on the knees. Oscillations of the triceps surae and Achilles tendon system were initiated with a hand-held hammer by tapping the weight load. Oscillations occur at frequencies of 3-6 Hz and were slightly damped. The damped oscillations in conjunction with the equation of motion of a damped mass-spring model were used to calculate the viscosity of muscle (b), and the elasticity of muscle fibres (kd) and tendon (kt) in each subject.

There were little significant differences in most of physical characteristic variables between black and white athletes. Black athletes have significantly greater muscle viscosity and elasticity than white athletes while tendon elasticity is equivalent. Thus, muscle stiffness is greater among black athletes. Greater muscle stiffness could contribute to greater sprint/jump performance among black athletes, compared with white athletes, through alteration of foot/ground contact and take-off phases during sprinting/jumping.

Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.

PURPOSE: Black American men experience disproportionate mortality from prostate cancer (CaP) compared with white American men. Differences in outcome may stem from differences within the androgen axis. Since serum testosterone levels appear to be similar by race in men with CaP, we measured and compared androgen receptor (AR) protein expression in malignant and benign prostate tissue from black and white men who underwent radical prostatectomy for clinically localized CaP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Archived radical prostatectomy specimens obtained from 25 white and 25 black men had AR protein antigen retrieved and immunostained. AR protein expression from CaP and benign tissue was assessed by 2 methods. Automated digital color video image analysis was used to measure the percent area immunostained for AR protein and the intensity of expression (mean optical density). Visual scoring was performed to compare results with automated values. RESULTS: In black compared with white men malignant nuclei were 27% more likely to immunostain for AR (p = 0.005) and in immunopositive nuclei AR protein expression was 81% greater (p = 0.002). Visual scoring of malignant nuclei revealed that AR immunostaining was significantly increased in black vs white men (171 +/- 40 vs 149 +/- 37, p = 0.048). In immunopositive benign nuclei AR protein expression was 22% greater in black than in white men (p = 0.027). Visual scoring of benign nuclei revealed 20% increased immunostaining in black vs white men, although this difference did not attain statistical significance (p = 0.065). Racial differences in AR protein expression were not explained by age, pathological grade or stage, although serum prostate specific antigen levels were higher in black men (9.7 +/- 7.5 vs 15.5 +/- 12.2 ng/ml, p = 0.049). CONCLUSIONS: AR protein expression was 22% higher in the benign prostate and 81% higher in the CaP of black African compared with white men. CaP may occur at a younger age and progress more rapidly in black than in white men due to racial differences in androgenic stimulation of the prostate.

_____

Relationships between prostate-specific antigen and prostate volume in black and white men with benign prostate biopsies.

Fowler JE Jr, Bigler SA, Kilambi NK, Land SA.

Department of Pathology, University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Jackson, USA.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the higher age-adjusted serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in black compared with white men with no clinical evidence of prostate cancer reflect racial differences in relationships between PSA and prostate volume. METHODS: The age, PSA, findings on digital rectal examination (DRE), prostate volume, and PSA density were assessed prospectively in 810 consecutive, evaluable men who underwent prostate biopsy for suspected cancer but who had benign histologic findings. RESULTS: Among the black and white patients, there were significant differences in age (mean 67.2 +/- 8.1 and 65.9 +/- 7.7 years, respectively, P = 0.02), PSA (median 4.7 and 3.9 ng/mL, respectively, P <0.0001), prostate volume (median 41 and 36 mL, respectively, P = 0.004), and PSA density (median 0.11 and 0.08 ng/mL/mL, respectively, P = 0.005). Multiple linear regression analyses showed that black race was significantly associated with increased prostate volume when controlled for age (P = 0.02), with increased PSA when controlled for prostate volume and age (P = 0.002), and with increased PSA density when controlled for age (P = 0.007). When controlled for prostate volume, PSA was not significantly different in black and white men 50 to 59 years old but was significantly greater in black men 60 to 69 and 70 to 79 years old (P = 0.02 and 0.002, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: On a volume/volume basis, the benign prostatic tissue of black men appears to contribute more PSA to the circulating blood than does the benign prostatic tissue of white men, and the difference increases with advancing age. These phenomena provide a reasonable explanation for the age-adjusted racial differences in the PSA of men with no clinical evidence of cancer.

PURPOSE: Tumor grade, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) ploidy, proliferation, p53 and bcl-2 expression were examined in clinically localized prostate cancers of black and white American men to learn whether these features showed racial differences. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 117 prostate cancers (43 black and 74 white patients) obtained at radical prostatectomy for clinically localized disease were assigned Gleason scores by a single pathologist. Enzymatically dissociated nuclei from archival prostate cancers were examined by DNA flow cytometry using propidium iodide staining and the multicycle program to remove debris and sliced nuclei and to perform cell cycle analysis. For immunostaining after microwave antigen retrieval we used a DO-1/DO-7 monoclonal antibody cocktail for p53 and the clone 124 antibody for bcl-2. RESULTS: Significantly more black than white men had Gleason score 7 tumors. The DNA ploidy distribution of Gleason 6 or less tumors was similar for both races. As anticipated, the ploidy distribution of higher grade prostate cancer in white men was more abnormal but, unexpectedly, this was not found for higher grade prostate cancer in black men. No significant racial differences were found in S phase fractions, p53 or bcl-2 immunopositivity. However, for prostate cancer in black men there was a significant association between bcl-2 immunopositivity and higher S-phase fractions. CONCLUSIONS: The aggressive prostate cancers of black men may be characterized by the 2 features of high proliferation and a block to programmed cell death.

Percent free prostate specific antigen and cancer detection in black and white men with total prostate specific antigen 2.5 to 9.9 ng./ml.

Fowler JE Jr, Sanders J, Bigler SA, Rigdon J, Kilambi NK, Land SA.

Division of Urology and Department of Pathology, University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Jackson, Mississippi, USA.

PURPOSE: The ratio of free-to-total prostate specific antigen (PSA), or percent free PSA, is a useful adjunct to total PSA for estimating the risk of prostate cancer when total PSA is 2.5 to 9.9 ng./ml. Relationships between cancer detection and total PSA are influenced by race but to our knowledge relationships between cancer detection and percent free PSA have not been studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 222 black and 298 white consecutive and evaluable men with total PSA 2.5 to 9.9 ng./ml. underwent prostate biopsy for suspected cancer at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Clinical measurements included digital rectal examination, total and free serum PSA, prostate volume, PSA density and Gleason score of malignant biopsy specimens. RESULTS: Median percent free PSA was 14.1 (range 3.6 to 49.2) in 201 men with prostate cancer and 21.9 (range 5.7 to 83.3) in 319 without detectable cancer (p <0.0001). Significant racial differences in demographic characteristics and clinical measurements were limited to total PSA, which was higher in black men (p = 0.03). Cancer was detected in 156 black (47%) and 206 white (33%) men (p = 0.001). Areas under receiver operating characteristics curves for percent free PSA and total PSA were 0.66 and 0.58, respectively, for black men (p = 0.15), and 0.76 and 0.58, respectively, for white men (p <0.00001). Percent free PSA was 35.2 in black men and 29.2 in white men, and specificity was 9.1% and 28.7%, respectively, when sensitivity for percent free PSA was set at 95%. Of 156 black and 206 white men with percent free PSA less than 25, 83 (53%) and 85 (41%), respectively, had detectable cancer (p = 0.03). Of 66 black and 92 white men with percent free PSA 25 or greater 21 (32%) and 12 (13%), respectively, had detectable cancer (p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates racial differences in relationships between percent free PSA and cancer detection in men with suspected prostatic carcinoma and total PSA 2.5 to 9.9 ng./ml. Clinical application of the commonly used percent free PSA cutoff of less than 25 to determine the advisability of prostate biopsy may lead to under diagnosis of early stage prostate cancer in black men, who are at greater risk of morbidity and mortality from disease than white men.

-----

Are there gender and race differences in cellular immunity patterns over age in infected and uninfected children born to HIV-infected women?

European Collaborative Study.

This study investigated whether age-related patterns of immunologic markers in 1488 uninfected (9789 measurements) and 186 infected (3414 measurements) children differed by gender and race. CD4+, CD8+, and absolute lymphocytes by HIV infection status, gender, and race were assessed using linear mixed-effects natural cubic spline models, allowing for prematurity and maternal CD4+ cell count. In uninfected children, levels of all 3 markers peaked twice in the first few months of life, declining to adult levels by around 8 years of age; uninfected boys and uninfected black children had significantly reduced CD4+ and absolute lymphocyte counts; the gender difference was especially pronounced in black children. Infected children had substantially lower levels and distinctly different patterns; with, e.g., by age 6 months CD4+ cell counts nearly 1200 per mm3 lower than in uninfected infants. Levels also significantly differed by gender and race for infected children, although for gender in the opposite direction. The gender and race differences in CD4+ levels were not explained by a general lymphocytosis nor were they confounded by treatment. These substantial differences in immunologic markers may reflect underlying genetic influence on the cellular immune system and may have implications for clinical decisions about therapeutic management

BACKGROUND: The Multicenter UnSustained Tachycardia Trial (MUSTT) demonstrated the benefit of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in patients with coronary disease, asymptomatic nonsustained ventricular tachycardia, and reduced left ventricular function. Previous studies have shown racial differences in risk of sudden death in patients with ischemic heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed the influence of race on results of MUSTT. Whites were more likely to have prior revascularization and inducible, randomizable sustained ventricular arrhythmias and less likely to have left ventricular hypertrophy than were blacks. Compared with blacks, whites randomly assigned to electrophysiologically (EP)-guided therapy had a lower risk of arrhythmic death/cardiac arrest (adjusted P=0.003) and lower total mortality rates (adjusted P=0.051). In contrast, there was no racial difference in the risk of arrhythmic death/cardiac arrest among patients randomly assigned to no EP-guided therapy (adjusted P=0.477). Among whites, EP-guided therapy resulted in a survival benefit compared with no EP-guided therapy. However, survival of blacks randomly assigned to no EP-guided therapy was better than blacks receiving EP-guided therapy. This difference is partially explained by a higher ICD implantation rate in whites versus blacks (50% versus 28%, P=0.034). Whites were more likely to remain inducible after serial EP-guided drug testing (67% versus 42%, P=0.011), making them more likely to become eligible for ICDs. CONCLUSIONS: The outcome in this trial and the benefit of EP-guided therapy appeared to be influenced by race. In addition to differences in ICD implantation rates, differences in arrhythmic substrates and proarrhythmic responses to antiarrhythmic drugs may have influenced outcome.

Obesity Research Center, St Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, and Institute of Human Nutrition, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 1025, USA.

BACKGROUND: Total body potassium (TBK) is an index of fat-free mass. Data describing changes in TBK in African American, Asian, or Hispanic populations have not been reported. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to investigate possible sex and racial differences in TBK in adults over an age range of 70 y. DESIGN: The study used longitudinal and cross-sectional data collected in a body-composition unit from 973 men and 1368 women of African American, Asian, white, and Hispanic race-ethnicity. Random coefficient models in which baseline weight and height were taken into account were applied to estimate sex-specific changes in TBK among the 4 racial-ethnic groups. RESULTS: The ages of 30 and 31 y were identified for women and men, respectively, as the cutoffs after which TBK began to decline. Both sexes had similar racial-ethnic patterns for expected mean TBK at the age cutoffs: African Americans had the highest value, followed by whites, Hispanics, and Asians. After the age cutoffs, the decline in TBK differed by race and sex. In women, African Americans showed the most rapid decline, whereas Asians had the lowest. In men, Hispanics had the most rapid decline in TBK, followed by African Americans, whites, and Asians. CONCLUSION: Significant sex and racial differences exist in the rate of change in TBK with age. Further studies are needed to explore the associations of declining TBK with health risks.

Genetic diversity of the alpha-1-antitrypsin gene in Africans identified using a novel genotyping assay.

Hayes VM.

Genetics Laboratory, Department of Urology, University of Stellenbosch, Faculty of Health Sciences, Tygerberg, South Africa. v.hayes@garvan.org.au

The highly polymorphic human alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) gene, more recently named SERPINA1, codes for the most abundant circulating plasma serine protease inhibitor, protease inhibitor 1 (PI). Most studies determining AAT haplotype frequencies have been restricted first by the limited accuracy of the phenotypic method used and secondly by the analysis of predominantly Caucasian populations. Limited studies have been performed on African-based populations. Here a new comprehensive assay for genotyping the entire coding region, including splice junctions, of the AAT gene was designed. This assay, based on denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), allows for the complete analysis of a single individual in two lanes on a gel. Application of the assay resulted in the identification of nine known AAT variants as well as 13 novel sequence variants, five of which are single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), occurring exclusively in the African-based populations. This is the first comprehensive analysis of the genetic diversity of the AAT gene in a cohort from sub-Saharan Africa.

-----

Population genetics of alpha-1-antitrypsin polymorphism in US whites, US blacks and African blacks.

DeCroo S, Kamboh MI, Ferrell RE.

Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pa.

An isoelectric focusing (IEF) procedure in an ultra-narrow pH range, 4.2-4.9, has been utilized to detect alpha 1-antitrypsin or alpha 1-protease inhibitor (PI) allele products in 2 US white and 3 US black populations as well as 1 native African black population. In addition to the 3 common alleles PI*M1, PI*M2 and PI*M3, products of the 4th allele PI*M4 have been identified in US whites at low-level frequency. The presence of the PI*S, PI*Z and PI*I alleles has also been verified in our population samples. While the PI*S allele is present at a polymorphic level in US whites, it is only present sporadically in US blacks and is completely absent in African blacks. The PI*Z allele was not detected in the black populations tested. The PI allele frequency data have been used to calculate white admixture in US blacks.

-----

CYP2D6 allele frequency in European Caucasians, Asians, Africans and their descendants.

Over 40 cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 allelic variants have been discovered thus far. The alleles may be classified on the basis of the level of activity for which they encode CYP2D6 enzymes, into functional, non-functional and reduced function groups. CYP2D6 allele frequency is known to vary amongst racial/ethnic groups. Generally, for European Caucasians and their descendants, the functional group of alleles are predominant, with a frequency of 71%. Non-functional alleles represent 26% of the variability, mainly CYP2D6*4. In Asians and their close descendants, functional alleles represent only ~ 50% of the frequency of CYP2D6 alleles. Asians and Pacific Islanders have a high frequency (median = 41%) of a reduced function allele, CYP2D6*10, contributing to the population shift to the right of metabolic rates indicating slower metabolism. Information concerning Amerindians from North (Canada), Central and South America indicate comparatively low frequencies of CYP2D6*10, perhaps a "founders" effect. The frequency of functional alleles in Africans and African Americans is also about 50%. Both Africans and African Americans have reduced function alleles representing 35% of allele variation, mainly CYP2D6*17. African Americans, however, have more than twice the median frequency of nonfunctional alleles compared with Africans (14.5% vs 6.3%). Non-functional and reduced function alleles represent about 50% of allele frequency in Black populations but a much greater variety than carried in Asians. Since alleles which encode for no or reduced functioning clearly affect metabolic activity of drugs mediated by CYP2D6, studies are needed in populations in which these alleles play a major role in order to assure optimal dosing recommendations are based on empirical pharmacogenetics.

We have identified a new T-->C transition on the human Y chromosome. C-allele chromosomes have been found only in a subset of the populations from Asia and northern Europe and reach their highest frequencies in Yakut, Buryats, and Finns. Examination of the microsatellite haplotypes of the C-allele chromosomes suggests that the mutation occurred recently in Asia. The Y chromosome thus provides both information about population relationships in Asia and evidence for a substantial paternal genetic contribution of Asians to northern European populations such as the Finns.

------

Genetic relationships of Europeans, Asians and Africans and the origin of modern Homo sapiens.

Nei M, Liv****s G.

Center for Demographic and Population Genetics, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston.

To study the evolutionary relationships of the three major groups of humans, Europeans, Asians and Africans, the genetic distances between them were computed by using 4 different sets of genetic loci (84 protein loci, 33 blood group loci, 8 HLA and immunoglobulin loci, and 61 DNA markers). The results obtained indicate that the overall genetic distance between Europeans and Asians is significantly lower than that between Europeans and Africans of that between Asians and Africans and support the hypothesis of an African origin of modern humans. This seems to be the first study to establish the evolutionary relationships of the three major groups of humans at a statistically significant level.

----

Origins and affinities of modern humans: a comparison of mitochondrial and nuclear genetic data.

To test hypotheses about the origin of modern humans, we analyzed mtDNA sequences, 30 nuclear restriction-site polymorphisms (RSPs), and 30 tetranucleotide short tandem repeat (STR) polymorphisms in 243 Africans, Asians, and Europeans. An evolutionary tree based on mtDNA displays deep African branches, indicating greater genetic diversity for African populations. This finding, which is consistent with previous mtDNA analyses, has been interpreted as evidence for an African origin of modern humans. Both sets of nuclear polymorphisms, as well as a third set of trinucleotide polymorphisms, are highly consistent with one another but fail to show deep branches for African populations. These results, which represent the first direct comparison of mtDNA and nuclear genetic data in major continental populations, undermine the genetic evidence for an African origin of modern human

Polymorphisms exhibited by drug-metabolizing enzymes are well known and have been investigated for many years. Recently, the exploding field of pharmacogenetics has focused not only on the characterization of enzymes responsible for drug biotransformation but also, on describing the sources of variability in enzyme activity. While initial observations and studies focused on populations of Caucasian origin, reports for other populations followed. The incidence of a poor or slow metabolizer phenotype for a given enzyme caused by allelic variants may vary significantly between populations. The question arises as to whether a prediction of the phenotype (i.e. distribution and/or enzyme activity) can be accurately ascertained from genotype information gathered in a related population. This is exemplified by NAD(P):quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) investigated in Canadian Native Indian (CNI), Inuit and Chinese populations and the cytochromes P4502C19 and 2D6. While the two North American Native populations are genetically distinct, they are both descendants from northern Asia. Consequently, one might suspect that on a pharmacogenetic basis, CNI and Inuit would be more comparable to Chinese as opposed to Caucasian populations. This is certainly not the case as demonstrated for all three enzymes. Also, for a reliable phenotype prediction, one needs to pay attention to ethnic "mixing" which occurs between certain populations. Ethnic diversity constitutes both a challenge and an opportunity to prudently apply pharmacogenetics so that variability in both drug disposition and effect may be better understood.

This study investigated the effects of visual and verbal racial cues and their consistency on physiological indices of attention, arousal, and valence. Subjects were exposed to a series of short clips containing a digitized Black face or White face reading a priming sentence. The priming sentence was recorded from two males, one Black and one White. Clips contained either still faces, animated faces with lip synch, or no face at all (voice only). Subjects’ heart rate and skin conductance were recorded during exposure to stimuli. Preliminary results indicate that Black faces elicit responses consistent with greater automatic attention and negative valence than those elicited by White faces. Voice alone did not lead to any significant differences in autonomic response. Consistency interacted with racial cues such that inconsistency increased attention to a White face but decreased attention to a Black face. Results will be discussed in terms of racial framing and psychological processing of media.

Since tympanometric results represent preliminary data in considering middle ear functions, statistical comparisons of the estimated ear canal volume, the static admittance and the tympanometric peak pressure between the two racial groups were carried out. Statistically significant differences were found in the former two parameters between the two racial groups using the independent two-tailed t-test (for canal volume, t = 3.807, df = 118, p < .005; for static admittance, t = 6.403, df = 118, p < .0001). Accordingly, both canal volume and static admittance were smaller in Chinese than in Caucasians. It is possible that the racial differences in the canal volume and static admittance are at least two of the underlying reasons for the different frequency distributions of OAEs found. Another possible source of racial differences in SOAE characteristics is cochlear differences. Different levels of melanin affect human’s pigmentation, and have been postulated to affect hearing because the specialized melanocytes form an important component of the stria vascularis in the cochlea (Garber et al., 1982). Therefore, physiological variations inside the cochlea due to different levels of melanin in different racial groups are suspected. In the study by Whitehead et al. (1993), the greatest difference in SOAE expressions (although statistically not significant) was found between Negroes and Caucasians. Since the difference of SOAE prevalence or characteristics in people with different levels of melanin is not dramatic, Negroes and Caucasians would be the two most suitable racial groups for any further study

As have others before them, the researchers found that the contribution of nasal breathing to E diminishes with increasing exercise effort. However, they also found that nasal ventilation during exercise varies as a function of both race and gender.

African-Americans have a greater nasal contribution to breathing during exercise than Caucasians. It may be that this interracial difference is due to the former's ability to achieve greater maximal flow rates through their nose, although this dependence requires further investigation.

At relative exercise efforts, women also had a greater nasal contribution to breathing during exercise than men. This gender difference is explained by the fact that the women achieved lower E than men at a given percentage of their maximum work capacity. Because oral augmentation during exercise was shown to be a function of E, the women did not need to augment their breathing orally until much later in their relative work effort.

These racial and gender-related differences in route of breathing during exercise may be important for determining relative risks of individuals to environmental or occupational exposures of potentially toxic gases or particulate matter.

Although the issue of subgroup variation in the incidence and onset age of specific DSM-IV alcohol use disorder symptoms has not been addressed in the empirical literature, several investigators have examined racial/ethnic and gender variation in the prevalence of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems. These studies indicate heavy drinking is more common among males than among females (Dawson et al., 1995; Knupfer, 1989; Muthen and Muthen, 2000), among younger than among older drinkers (Knupfer, 1989), and among whites than among blacks or Hispanics (Dawson et al., 1995; Knupfer, 1989). From 18 years of age through the mid-30s, drinking-related problems are more likely among whites than among blacks; but from the mid-30s on, drinking-related problems are more likely among blacks and Hispanics than among whites (Muthen and Muthen, 2000)....

The results of a new study suggest that black patients with congestive heart failure are at higher risk for death and for worsening of their disease than similarly treated white patients. "Congestive heart failure is a devastating disease affecting 600,000 black patients. If research confirms a difference between black and white survival and identifies the underlying cause of this difference, we may see improved treatment of blacks with heart failure and a greater understanding of this disease among all patients," said Dr. Claude Lenfant, Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHBLI), which funded the study.

The new findings, published in the February 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, are based on data collected from the Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction (SOLVD). SOLVD found that patients with chronic congestive heart failure had fewer deaths and hospitalizations when treated with an ACE inhibitor, a drug which blocks the constriction of blood vessels.

In the new "retrospective" analysis, Dr. Daniel Dries of the NHLBI and colleagues looked back at the SOLVD results and analyzed racial differences. They reported that 42 percent of blacks in the treatment component of the study (patients with symptoms) and 22 percent of blacks in the prevention component (without symptoms) died compared to 36 and 14 percent of whites respectively. In addition, black patients were at increased risk for progression of the disease.

New research suggests that a child’s race may be a factor in determining his/her susceptibility to tobacco toxins associated with environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). The study, published in the March issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), reveals that African American children with asthma, who are exposed to ETS, have significantly higher toxin levels when compared to their Caucasian counterparts.

“African American children suffer from higher rates of tobacco-related disorders, such as asthma, sudden-infant death syndrome, and low birth weight, and we need to know why,” said lead author Stephen Wilson MD, University of Cincinnati. “So our goal is to understand how certain populations—particularly those groups who are most susceptible—respond to ETS exposure.”

Dr. Wilson and colleagues from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center examined 220 tobacco-exposed children with asthma, who had previously participated in the Cincinnati Asthma Prevention study. Researchers studied a bi-racial, community-based sample (55% African American) of children ranging in ages 5 to 12. All of the children had physician-diagnosed asthma, symptoms consistent with persistent asthma, and were exposed to at least five cigarettes per day in or around the home.

“Cotinine is a product of nicotine metabolism. When people inhale or ingest nicotine, the body uses proteins to convert it into cotinine,” said Dr. Wilson, “and, currently, measuring cotinine in various biologic specimens is a widely used method for assessing nonsmokers’ exposure to ETS.”

Researchers also avoided reporting parental bias by actively measuring levels of tobacco smoke in the home. Each study participant had a nicotine dosimeter placed in his or her home at baseline and at the 6-month visit. These dosimeters were removed at the 6-month and 1-year visits, and were used to objectively measure each child’s level of ETS exposure.